"With the following files, 'dota 2 Betakeys.txt.exe' and 'diablo3-crack.exe,' attackers prey on gamers anxious to test out Defense of the Ancients 2 (a custom scenario map for Warcraft III) and Diablo III, respectively, which aren’t slated for release until later in 2012," writes Threatpost's Brian Donohue.

"In the first case, users attempting to snag a beta version of Defense of the Ancients 2 are actually just downloading the Pontoeb malware (detected as Backdoor:MSIL/Pontoeb.J)," Donohue writes. "Once executed, Pontoeb begins gathering critical system information with the ultimate goal of morphing the computer into part of a zombie network."